The Duke and Duchess of Sussex cheered and clapped as the United Kingdom’s team walked onto the stage for the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games.
Harry and Meghan arrived in Vancouver on Saturday for the seventh edition of the games that were established by Prince Harry in 2014.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Nelly Furtado and Katy Perry are all due to perform at the opening event.
The president of Boeing International (which is presenting the games), Brendan Nelson, told the ceremony audience: “Prince Harry has given duty, courage, hope and love a name. Invictus.”
As Mr Nelson told Prince Harry, “we are proud of you”, the Duchess of Sussex clapped and smiled at her husband, touching his face affectionately.
Image: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada. Pic: PA
On her Instagram story earlier on Saturday, she shared a video as she posed alongside her husband for a picture with Team USA. She also posted a video where she hugged a woman in a Team Canada kit.
Meghan’s attendance is understood to underscore her support for her husband and the mission of Invictus, which brings together more than 500 competitors from 23 nations.
It is the first time the games will include winter sports.
British veterans and serving personnel who were injured during service departed for Canada earlier this week to take part in the games. The 62 competitors are all veterans and serving personnel who sustained life-changing injuries or illnesses during their time in the UK Armed Forces.
Image: Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf. Pic: PA
Image: Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend an event at the 2023 Invictus Games. Pic: Reuters
The games were last held in Dusseldorf in 2023. Invictus 2027 will be held in Birmingham, returning to the UK for the first time since its inception, when the first games were held in London.
The games were inspired after Prince Harry took a trip to the Warrior Games in 2013, where he saw how sport could aid injured service personnel in their recoveries.
At the time, Harry worked in partnership with his then charity The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, to deliver the games alongside the Ministry of Defence. The first games, held in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, brought together 400 competitors from 13 nations around the world
Image: The Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver is lit in celebration, ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada. The games will take place across Vancouver and Whistler. Picture date: Saturday February 8, 20
The name of the games, Invictus, means ‘unconquered’.
For Meghan and Harry, it has been the backdrop to some key moments in their lives. The couple famously appeared in public together for the first time at the Toronto Invictus Games in 2017, pictured hand in hand at a wheelchair tennis event.
Image: Meghan and Prince Harry, pictured at the 2017 Invictus Games. Pic: PA
Image: It was the first public outing for the couple. Pic: PA
They attended the 2018 Invictus Games just five days after announcing they were expecting their first child.
Then, just days after their son Archie was born, Prince Harry travelled to the Netherlands to promote the 2020 Invictus Games, which had been due to take place at the Hague.
Image: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the 2018 games just days after announcing Meghan’s pregnancy. Pic: PA
These games were later delayed to 2022 due to the COVID pandemic, but during this initial visit he was gifted an Invictus-themed onesie by Princess Margriet.
Image: Princess Margriet of the Netherlands presents Prince Harry with an outfit for his newborn son at the launch of the 2020 Invictus Games. Pic: AP
Meghan has a number of upcoming projects, including a Netflix series With Love, Meghan, which will now be released on 4 March, after being delayed due to the wildfires in LA.
Passengers have been evacuated from Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 as a “precautionary measure”.
Flights could be “temporarily impacted”, the airport said in a statement.
It did not give any details about the reason for the evacuation but said “the safety and security of our passengers and staff is our absolute priority”.
“We advise passengers to check with their airline for the latest updates,” the airport added, saying further information would be provided as soon as it is available.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
At least 70 people have been killed after a paramilitary drone attack on a mosque in Sudan.
The Sudanese army and aid workers said the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out the attack during Friday prayers in the North Darfur region.
The attack took place in the besieged city of Al Fasher and was said to have completely destroyed the mosque.
With bodies still buried under the rubble, the number of deaths is likely to rise, a worker with the local aid group Emergency Response Rooms said.
The worker spoke anonymously, fearing retaliation from the RSF.
Further details of the attack were difficult to ascertain because it took place in an area where many international and charitable organisations have already pulled out because of the violence.
In a statement, Sudan’s army said it was mourning the victims of the attack.
It said: “Targeting civilians unjustly is the motto of this rebel militia, and it continues to do so in full view of the entire world.”
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The Sudan war started in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in Khartoum.
The US special envoy to Sudan estimates that 150,000 people have been killed, but the exact figure is unknown. Close to 12 million people have been displaced.
Several mediation attempts have failed to secure a humanitarian access mechanism or any lulls in fighting.
The Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a group of local activists who track abuses, posted a video on Friday claiming to show parts of the mosque reduced to rubble with several scattered bodies.
The Darfur Victims Support Organisation, which monitors abuses against civilians, said the attack happened at a mosque on the Daraga al Oula street at around 5am local time, citing witnesses.
The attack is the latest in a series of heavy clashes in the past week of between the two sides in Al Fasher.
Banned from Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia will hold a rival international song contest on Saturday, with an emphasis on “traditional values”.
Instead of camp, think conservative – patriotic pop with a PG-rating.
“Intervision” was launched under the order of Vladimir Putin, with the hope it would serve as an expression of Moscow’s international pulling power.
Image: Intervision decorations in Red Square, Moscow, ahead of the contest
There are contestants from 23 countries, which are a mixture of Russia’s allies old and new, including Belarus, Cuba and Tajikistan as well as China, India and Saudi Arabia.
The odd one out is the United States, who’ll be represented by an artist called “Vassy”. She’s not part of an official delegation, but an American voice is still a coup for the Kremlin, which will seek to use this contest as proof of the West’s failure to isolate Russia on the global stage.
‘War whitewash’
Intervision is not entirely new. It was originally launched in the 1960s as an instrument of Soviet soft power, before largely fading from view in the 1980s.
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According to Moscow, its revival has nothing to do with politics. But Ukraine has condemned it as propaganda, and an attempt to whitewash Russia’s war.
It was a point I put to some contestants after their final press conferences, but it didn’t go down well.
“We don’t think like that, we are here to spread peace,” India’s Rauhan Malik told me, when I asked if his participation was a show of support for Russia’s invasion.
Image: Malik, one of the contestants
“Are you not turning a blind eye to Russia’s aggression?” I countered.
“I have no idea about it,” he said. “I have no idea about the current situation that’s happening. I don’t want to speak about that as well.”
Image: Eurovision legends Abba would almost certainly not make the Russian contest guest list. Pic: AP
Really? He had no idea? But before I could go on, I felt a forceful hand on my shoulder and a minder stepped in.
The intervention was even quicker when it came to speaking to Brazil’s act. As soon as I mentioned the word Ukraine, I was drowned out by shouts of “no, no, no, no” and the duo were ushered away.
Image: Brazilian contestants, duo Luciano Calazans and Thais Nader
Where’s the glitter?
Intervision is not just a reaction to Russia’s recent exclusion from Eurosivion, however, it’s also a reaction to the contest’s values and what it’s come to represent.
Its celebration of sexual diversity and LGBTQ+ rights are seen as a symbol of what the Kremlin calls the West’s moral decline. In contrast, Intervision organisers say their contest will promote “traditional, family values.”
Judging by the costumes on show ahead of last week’s draw, that translates to less glitter, more embroidery, with a thematic emphasis on national heritage.
So what do Russians think of Intervision’s resurrection? Can it replace Eurovision?
“We don’t miss Eurovision,” Galina and Tatiana say, underneath a collection of purple and pink ‘Intervision’ flags near Red Square.
“It was so horrible, especially lately. We didn’t like watching it at all.”
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Why are countries boycotting Eurovision?
Polina agrees, believing Russia’s version will be “more interesting”.
“Many countries that participated in Eurovision want to boycott it, so it’s interesting to see a more peaceful event now,” she says.
Igor is more circumspect. “I’d like to believe that this isn’t a political event,” he says, “but rather an event that unites nations and people.”
Intervision will succeed in uniting some nations. But at the same time, it may only deepen divisions with others – further evidence that Russia and the West are singing very different tunes.